1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus with copy and printer functions which includes an ink jet recording head.
2. Description of the Related Art
To achieve high-speed printing, when a blank image with a width equal to or greater than the recording head width (hereafter referred to as one band) is included in a recording image, image forming apparatuses with an ink jet recording head skip over the blank part, in the case of which only the conveyance of sheet is done without forming the image by scanning of the recording head at the blank part (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-23461).
The blank skip function is a function peculiar to the ink jet image forming apparatus and employs different control methods depending on a model-specific configuration such as the width or the arrangement of the recording head. Thus, the blank skip function is preferably provided not in the controller control unit but in the engine control unit serving as a printing control unit.
However, the blank skip function in the engine control unit cannot reduce the printing time of a recording image in which no blank skip occurs. That is, the blank skip function in the engine control unit detects whether image data of one band is blank and then switches whether to perform a blank skip on the basis of the detection result. At this time, when no blank band exists in the image data, there occurs a delay in the printing by the time for detecting whether there is a blank.
In view of the aforementioned, there is a need to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming method that provides reduced printing time in a printing mode in which there is a high probability of no blank band existing in image data.